The 56th annual Grammy Awards are tonight and Speakeasy is live blogging the show. Jay Z, Beyonce, Macklemore, Katy Perry, Kanye West, Lorde, Ed Sheeran and Gary Clark Jr. are among the nominees. We’re also looking out for performances from Metallica and Lang Lang, Madonna, Billie Joe Armstrong with Miranda Lambert, and Daft Punk with Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder and Nile Rodgers. What do you think of the Grammy Awards 2014? Leave your thoughts in the comments and join the conversation.

Good evening, everyone! The Grammys Live Blog is here, ready for tonight’s red carpet and awards ceremony! Stay tuned as reporters from the WSJ weigh in on the winners and performances. Who are you most looking forward to watching tonight?

Dave Grohl won a Grammy in the pre-show. He says the Beatles are the foundation for everything musicians do. “It’s like seeing a UFO,” he said of meeting Paul McCartney, “but within seconds he makes you feel like the greatest thing in the world.”

“Still, for all the attractions that the Grammys offer—where else can you see Eminem performing with Elton?—it remains the Cinderella of the winter awards shows, forever sweeping the cinders of pop culture around the electronic hearth, while its brassy stepsisters, the Golden Globes and the Oscars, drink vodka martinis on comfy leather banquettes and flit around Graydon Carter’s post-Oscars party.”

Lorde, the 17-year-old pop sensation from New Zealand, gave a pared-down performance of her 2013 hit “Royals” as the second live show of the evening. Within seconds, social media was abuzz with fashion reactions: her fingers looked like they’d been dipped in black wax, her typically curly hair was teased into a thick auburn blanket, and some likened her black and white outfit to a catering ensemble. Even though “Royals” is hard to resist, her witchy, twitchy stage presence seems to confuse folks who lust for a more conventional pop performance. But there’s plenty of confidence in her weirdness — a reminder that not every teenage girl yearns to be like Taylor Swift. The real puzzler here: Why did she perform right after Macklemore and Ryan Lewis won best new artist, a category she (mysteriously) wasn’t nominated for?

What was the Recording Academy thinking pairing Keith Urban with Gary Clark Jr.? Both men seemed out of their elements. Urban, who specializes in country ballads, looked soft next to Clark Jr., who can shun almost any contemporary guitarist but couldn’t sell the song. Alas, it was admittedly difficult to focus on the music. Urban’s deep v-neck tee and Kate Gosselin hairstyle stole the show — and inspired countless Twitter comparisons to Jennifer Lawrence, who recently shopped her hair into a choppy blonde bob.

Taylor Swift’s live stage presence can teeter on distractingly animated, which is why whoever decided to plop her behind a piano gets a big thumbs-up. During her performance of “All Too Well,” she appeared refreshingly mature and sophisticated, and the lack of dancing allowed her voice to shine. This could mark a new chapter for the young singer, if she can only fight the spells of hair-flipping, head-banging whiplash (Willow Smith has that covered).

Carole King may still rock it as a performer, but “Beautiful” — the new Broadway musical based on her work — has been a critical flop. To quote WSJ’s Terry Teachout: “it’s a staged biopic whose sitcommish book…is the merest of pretexts for the singing of two-dozen pop hits from the ’60s and early ’70s.”

When Daft Punk won Record of the Year for “Get Lucky,” the French duo stood up to hug friends and family and appointed Pharrell to accept the award for them. Fellow nominee Lorde, who has frequently cited them as inspiration, leapt out of her seat in applause.

Poor, super-talented Lang Lang–first he has to play with heavy metal rockers, and now he has to tinkle the keys during an in Memoriam segment for Van Cliburn. This is what it takes to be a classical musician in the 21st century.

Grammys seem edgy by awarding Daft Punk with album of the year. But when you remember that the robots are the most veteran acts by far among the nominees, it’s in line with Grammy tradition of awarding elder statesmen.

After Grammy presentation w/ Beyoncé, JZ, the lyrics to their music, and gay weddings... why would one wonder about judgment on America. Where are the wholesome values of life. Even the Today Show acknowledged inappropriate display of entertainment... what's with this generation anyhow.... filth and vulgar! Where can one tune into something of value on TV?

4:41 pm January 28, 2014

Helena wrote:

I could not believe Beyoncé, I didn't want to believe it was her. IT WAS GOD AWFUL! She looked hugh and not in a good way. Very unattractive for a woman to do. Too jaded, she and JZ should keep this for behind closed doors. We just don't need to see that...kind of trash. UGH. Her children will be next.

7:41 pm January 27, 2014

Joyce wrote:

Whar happened to the 'dress' in Grammy?! They are playing in the park???

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.